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Press Release - 20th ESPA Congress

19-22 May 2015, Sopot, Poland

Date: 22 May’15

20th Annual Conference of the European Spas Association

Towards Innovation in European Health Tourism

Sopot/Poland, May 20th – The European Spas Association (ESPA) celebrated its 20th anniversary when opening its annual congress in Sopot in Poland today. “We have seen a growth from 8 founding members in 1995 to 19 national members today”, said ESPA – president Martin Plachy in his opening speech. “This reflects not only the growing importance of health related tourism in Europe – it also expresses the commitment of our members towards professionalism and innovation”. The three-day conference covers all relevant topics of the industry comprising medical cure and medical wellness facilities and destinations as well as providers of high-quality wellness.

“This congress is a very unique opportunity for the entire industry to exchange on most current developments and innovations”, explains Joachim Lieber, secretary general of ESPA. The program of the first day covered a speech of Alain Libéros of the EU Commission on opportunities for European Spa & Health resorts; a live webinar with US-wellness expert Camille Hoheb on marketing opportunities in the American Market as well as papers on recent developments in health care sector and research. The subsequent program also covers economic topics as well as updates on pan-European projects and a series of B2B-meetings for participants of the congress. The event concluded with the announcement and handover-Gala ceremony of this year’s winners of the ESPA Innovation Awards.